More Than a Garden Shed

In February, Deborah Norton of Acworth, GA, shared a photo of her shed, above, on our Facebook page. “Repainted my potting shed this past summer. I have an old chandelier inside that provides light; running water and shelves with light for starting seedlings. This month, I added my Bottle Tree! Absolutely tacky and absolutely lovin’ it!” We love it, too, and so did many of our Facebook fans. We asked her to tell us more:

I built the shed in 1999, with a little help from my husband. My husband and a friend built the base, the plywood floor, and framed walls. We purchased outdoor-grade plywood for the outside, as well as two storm windows, which are on each side. We got the door and the front window from someone who was remodeling. I put the siding up by myself and got my neighbor to help me hang the door and front window.

Found these old post cards online and glued them to the wall.

I have always been an avid gardener. I love to grow my own veggies, flowers, herbs, etc. In fact, everything in my yard — with the exception of a tulip poplar and some azaleas — were either started by me from seed or propagation.

The shed project was inspired by an outdoor potting table my husband built for me years ago. I placed it in my side yard, behind my veggie garden. I would hook a hose up to it and do most of my potting there. Today, that same table is inside the shed, minus the sink. In the meantime, I am looking for a used kitchen sink.

I used to start a lot of seeds in my basement. I rigged up a shelving unit and would start my seeds early each year. I had the lights on a timer and covered the whole thing in some heavy clear plastic in the colder months. I always started my seeds in January, which is a bit too early here — but I just couldn’t help myself.

This light came from a kitchen remodel that my husband did.

I always ended up with tomato plants already bearing fruit by the time I could get them into my garden. Then grandkids happened and my gardening took a back burner. I still start some seeds in my shed, but just for a very small 4×4 square foot garden. This year I am going to try corn, okra, green beans, squash, cucumbers and peppers.

My place to escape

The view from the inside, at my potting table

I use my shed for storage in addition to seedstarting, repotting and overwintering. It is a quiet place to hang out in when I need to get away from the hubby and our two dogs, Mimzy and Jenny. A lot of my tools I inherited from my grandfather and found some at estate sales.

My pond

My garden is my whole yard; shrubs, perennials, annuals, herbs, succulents, etc. I have a dry stream bed with plantings along the side in my front yard and I built my own above-ground goldfish pond several years ago with a biological filter. I have 22 pet-shop gold fish that have grown into monster gold fish.

3 Comments

Anonymous

March 21, 2013

What a neat idea with the tree! Love your shed and it’s a one of a kind retreat. I think i like the pond feature most of all. After a long day of gardening, I bet it’s nice to sit and listen to the water and dream up more clever ideas to enhance the beauty of your garden!J. Holland, Arlington, TX